MAYVILLE – The number of active COVID-19 cases in Chautauqua County is once again on the rise.
The Chautauqua County Department of Health reported 19 new cases on Thursday, raising the total number of active cases to 120. That’s a 15% increase over what was reported on Wednesday (104 active cases) and the same number of active cases as what was reported on Monday, when county health officials first announced a new cluster of cases at Tanglewood Manor in West Ellicott.
As of Thursday afternoon, health officials say there were 11 active cases among employees of Tanglewood Manor, and 55 active cases among residents – making a total of 66 cases from the senior living facility. Officials also said on Thursday that no one associated with the Tanglewood outbreak has recovered.
There’s been 104 new confirmed COVID-19 cases reported in Chautauqua County during the past week, dating back to Friday, Oct. 9. That marks a 16% increase in total cases in just a one-week period. The total number of confirmed cases in the county since the start of the pandemic in March is now at 831, with 698 now listed as recovered. There’s also been 13 deaths.
HEALTH DEPARTMENT NO LONGER REPORTING HOSPITALIZATIONS, RESIDENTS IN QUARANTINE
Health officials have also stopped reporting the number of hospitalized individuals who’ve tested positive for COVID-19. The health department had been reporting that data in every report since the early days of the pandemic, but didn’t provide that information for either the report on Wednesday or Thursday. Tuesday was the last time the county reported hospitalized individuals with COVID-19, when that number was at 10.
On Friday morning WRFA reached out to County Health Commissioner Christine Schuyler to find out why the hospitalization information was no longer being reported.
“We’re doing the best we can to report on new, active and recovered cases as well as deaths. These matrixes are what most counties report on daily,” she explained via email. “Our epidemiologist will provide more comprehensive data, tentatively weekly. The reports we receive from the state on the number hospitalized in county hospitals with a COVID-19 diagnosis is a few days behind, so it’s not very useful to try and report daily anyway.”
“I promise you we’re doing the best we can to be transparent and provide the data we can on a timely basis,” Schuyler added.
The omission of the number of people hospitalized who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 comes just a few days after the county announced on Monday that it would no longer be reporting the number of residents under quarantine/isolation orders.
“This number is very fluid and very time-consuming for our nursing staff, who have been working seven days a week since the 15th of March…. they’ve been doing a phenomenal job and this hasn’t slowed down for anybody in the health department,” County Executive PJ Wendel said during a Monday press conference, when explaining why the quarantine/isolation numbers are no longer being reported.
“Those numbers are also less illustrative of our current situation, as compared to the new and active cases, and the recovered cases,” Wendel added.
Of the 19 new cases reported on Thursday:
- 6 cases in 14701 (Jamestown)
- 5 cases in 14048 (Dunkirk)
- 2 cases in 14750 (Lakewood)
- 2 cases in 14063 (Fredonia)
- 1 case in 14062 (Forestville)
- 1 case in 14733 (Falconer)
- 1 case in 14738 (Frewsburg)
- 1 case in 14775 (Ripley)
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